Oh fooey, guess I forgot to hit submit or something. Winter sowing will probably work but this method was about as fast and easy as it gets. I spring sowed some 3 years ago in a shallow, covered container after danger of frost was past placed in the shade. I had just picked the pods off the neighbor's tree. I dried them out, cracked the shells open, let them dry a bit more, then rubbed them with medium sandpaper 20X, planted as above, placed in the shade. The seeds were covered with about 1/4" potting soil. They germinated in less than 2 weeks. I got 27 sprouts or more, transplanted them into 2-liter soda bottles, top part with cap cut off, placed on the east side of the house. They were doing fine but took a beating when the house was painted. Then when fall came, I was too tired to plunge them all into the ground and lost them that winter. They take 7 years from seed to bloom. I learned about the sandpaper trick (don't go past the outer covering), the bloom time, and plunging them into the ground on another forum. If I had to do it again, I'd do the same thing except either start in the 2-liter bottles or plastic cups with baggies. This photo was taken April 24, 2007, I picked off these very pods a day or two later and others off the ground from that tree and another neighbor's close by and had them dried and planted within a week or little more. The seeds sometimes take a long time in nature because the outer shell is so hard, like a couple years or more but I have found volunteers around the yard now that I know what the leaves look like.

I used a variety of containers last year but found they were too shallow, plus a lot of lids blew off or cracked meaning it was hard to keep the trays moist once the heat and sun turned on in the spring. SO this year I am trying baggies. I found 8 large-size freezer bags for $1 at Dollarama. I've filled them about 1/3 full of soil as per the instructions at wintersown.org, then sprinkled with seed and covered lightly if necessary. I have also used the write-on portion on the outside of the bag to write the name of whatever's sown inside - handy! My only question would be, come spring, what would happen if any of the baby plants had their leaves touching the plastic, because I would think that would cause problems. Also, a drawback I can see already is that bags of soil, especially topped with delicate fragile seedlings, are not as easy to move around as pots. But I guess they take up much less space! Anyway, I'd love to hear from other Canadians who have experience with this! Here is a link that might be useful: My modest winter sowing 2009

My mother's in her 80s now, but when she was first married in 1946, she used the Joy of Cooking, War Edition, cookbook. I inherited it, although it's kind of in pieces now, but I found this recipe. If this isn't it, it certainly sounds similar. Tomato Preserves Scald and skin: 1 pound tomatoes If red tomatoes are used, slice them. Cover the tomatoes with: An equal amount of sugar Permit them to stand for 12 hours. Put the juice through a strainer. Boil it until the sirup (sic) falls from a spoon in heavy drops. Add the tomatoes and: Grated rind and juice of 1 lemon or 2 lemons, thinly sliced (seeds removed) 2 ounces ginger root or preserved ginger** Cook the preserves until they are thick. **Four inches of stick cinnamon may be substituted. So much is lost when older folk pass on. My grandmother was a wonderful gardener and a great baker as well. Everything of hers was sold at garage sales: all of her quilts and crocheted items, her Singer treadle sewing machine, her silverware...so many things that would probably have been classed as antique was just considered to be junk because it was old. And none of her gardening or cooking lore was passed down. My mother wasn't interested, and no one asked me. I wish I could get a copy of the War Edition Joy of Cooking that wasn't falling apart.

Thanks guys, no I did not supercrop. In fact, I did prune off the suckers ... later I found out that I should NOT have done that. It will severely hurt your yield they say. However, the plants are much bigger then the previous photos and are setting fruit quite nicely. Ill try to get some pics posted tonight. Also, my green pepper plants have sprouted, along with a pretty purple pepper plant, and a beefmaster indeterimante tomato plant. My basil is growing great, and I have been topping the basil which is in turn responding nicely and starting to grow "tops". My lettuce is like a wildfire as well .. fun stuff! Now that I got my newbie mistakes out of the way I think Im ready to rock on the next grow ;) I need to take a few clones of these totem hybrids though, I really like them. I think my next grow however, will be an INDETERMINANT cherry type tomato plant, and an indeterminant slicer variety as well, along with a few green peppers, lettuce, and spinach. Then I want to try a blueberry bush and some strawberries. I dont think the blueberries will be any problem but the strawberries are a different matter. In trying to find a continously producing line. The june bearers only fruit once a year, and then theres a seasonal variety that fruit twice a year.... neither will fit my requirements. I think I need to go with a day neutral variety to get a continous fuit production for the life of the plant??